WHEN gardener Christine Digman decided to brighten up a small plot on the pavement outside her Devizes' home, her green fingers opened up a can of worms.

"The ground was constantly full of litter which attracts more, so I tidied it up and planted it at my own expense," she said.

But soon after she started cultivating the tiny piece of land by Bugdens roundabout, in 1998, Wiltshire County Council told her she needed a permit.

Work commitments meant she was too busy to deal with the constant tidying or apply for the permit, so she passed responsibility back to the Highways Department. It was not long before the land became overgrown and a magnet for litter.

"It was an eyesore and embarrassing professionally," says Mrs Digman, a garden consultant. She complained to Kennet District Council, which agreed to remove the litter, but workers found much of it got caught up in the weeds the responsibility of the county council.

County officials re-checked the ownership of the land and decided that it was not the county council's responsibility after all, Mrs Digman said.

So Mrs Digman has started cultivating it again without a permit. The Highways Department says the land belongs to the Willis Court houses that back on to the pavement and welcomes Mrs Digman's efforts.

Graeme Hay, district highway surveyor of the Highways Department, said that although there had been some confusion over ownership, the land was an asset to the area.

"If communities take care of their towns and villages, it encourages drivers to respect them."

Mrs Digman said she has decided to use the disputed land for a horticultural experiment. Her first consideration was maintenance costs, which have been kept to a minimum by using plants that don't need regular watering.

The garden needs to be cut down twice a year. Litter has to be removed on a daily basis. The plants are hardy perennials, which are tough enough to cope with the poor soil and traffic pollution.

"All these ideas about planting have been around for years, but councils just don't seem interested," says Mrs Digman.

She thinks there are probably many patches of garden in the county which could benefit from similar treatment.

The reaction to her experiment has met with a mixed reaction from passers by. "Some people are very impressed, not just become I'm doing something, but because I'm doing something different; some are just puzzled," she said.

Mr Hay and Mrs Digman both praise similar work Urchfont Gardening Club have done in their village because it is creative and promotes road safety.